[2] It was created to provide a clean water supply to the city during the British colonial administration.

[3][4] It is approximately 3 miles (5 km) in circumference, and has a depth of 20 to 45 inches (50 to 115 cm).

The lake used to be the site of the Rangoon Rowing Club turned Kandawgyi Palace Hotel, which was gutted by a fire in 2017.

[9] Along the eastern shorelines of the lake is the famous Karaweik, a concrete replica of a Burmese royal barge built in 1972.

On 15 April 2010, three bombs exploded in a road near to the lake in the afternoon during the Burmese New Year festival; 10 people were killed and 178 injured.